By Terri C.
The Transparent Oracle by Emily Carding
Published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 978-0-7643-3486-3
Another amazing divination tool comes to us from the incredibly talented, revolutionary in the Tarot community, Emily Carding. The Transparent Oracle is a deck/book set that includes a 70-card transparent, circular oracle deck, a 128-page guidebook (also written by Emily) and a white reading cloth--all within a heavy duty, magnetic box.
The deck is divided into 7 “suits” of 10 cards each. These suits represent the Seven Directions. Those directions are East, South, West, North, Above, Below and Within. If you are not familiar with this concept, Emily does a fine job of explaining it in her guidebook.
From there, the first 4 suits or Directions (East, South, West and North) are made up of a card for each of the following: Gateway, Weather, Element, Time of Day, Landscape, (4 cards) Guides and an Elemental.
The Above Direction or suit is made up of a Gateway, a Guide, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and a Polarity. The Below Direction or suit is made up of a Gateway, 4 Guides, 4 Grail Hallows and a Polarity. The Within Direction or suit is made up of a Gateway, Dream, Touch, Taste, Hearing, Voice, Telepathy, Empathy, Vision, DNA/Labyrinth and The Web.
The guidebook also shows that great care was taken to include everything a reader would need to get started with this deck, from how to care for the cards, using the cards, and three spreads including a 3-card “Here and Now” spread, a “Three World” spread and a “Chakra” spread.
This deck can not only be used for those who want to do readings, but it also can be of assistance to those that are interested in ceremonial magic, and Shamanism. It can also be used by those who want to energetically feel a connection with the nature that is all around us.
The cards themselves can be laid out individually, but where the real magic of this oracle comes to play is when you start layering the cards. Each card itself has been brilliantly thought out on it’s own, but when you layer them and you see completely different things begin to emerge, that is when you see how amazing this particular body of work, truly is. Each of the 70 images appears to have been a labor of love and is made up of thousands of little dots.
To show you an example of how the overlay works, I’ve chosen Card 6, Butterfly, 
which is a Guide card from the East Direction. I’ve added Card 42, Angel, 
which is Guide card from the Above Direction.
In some instances, you might see a perfectly laid out mandala, while in other cases, you may see a figure or an animal wearing a mask.
The deck can be used by itself or in combination with Emily’s Transparent Tarot.
The cards themselves are a bit large, measuring 5 ½ inches across. The are quite flexible, but those with smaller hands may have to adapt their shuffling method.
Personally, I feel to get the most out of this deck, one should spend some time getting to know it. One shouldn’t rush this deck to reading, right out of the box, as it is a bit more complex than that. Take your time, study the imagery, learn about the Seven Directions and expand the way you think about nature, magic, how you fit in all of that and what your story is.
With a little study, and practice this deck could easily be used by a reading novice, all the way through to the professional. The set definitely should not be overlooked as we go into the holiday gift giving season.